


A rocker's flowercrown

by HappyKonny



Category: Septiplier - Fandom, Youtube RPF, youtube - Fandom
Genre: AU, Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - High School, Besides Mark and Jack the others won't appear much probably, First Person, I have no idea how High Schools work though bear with me, Jack's POV, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pastel!Mark, Physical Abuse, Septiplier AWAY!, They are almost certainly all OoC, maybe switches later??, rocker!jack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-02
Updated: 2017-04-29
Packaged: 2018-10-14 03:40:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 17,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10528146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HappyKonny/pseuds/HappyKonny
Summary: There's an openly bi guy, always wearing pastel colours with a flowercrown on his head.And then there's the guy with the crush on the popular kid, who's more of a loner than anything.Fate decided though, that Jack should meet Mark under not the best of circumstances -for the latter.





	1. Chapter 1

Standing behind the school building, I pull out a cigarette from my backpocket, along with a lighter. I only got a few left, but that doesn’t really matter. I only smoke before school starts anyways, and since I’m always too early, I got enough time by myself.  
Lighting the cigarette, I drop the lighter in the pocket of my leather jacket. I’m considered as one of the “rock guys” or whatever the “group” I’m apparently a part of is referred to. I don’t honestly care about any of that shit.

Blowing out the smoke I just inhaled, I let one hand run through my bright green dyed hair, slumbing against the wall. I’m not really popular, not at all, really, but at least I’m left alone for the most part. Sure I got some friends, like Felix and Ken, but that’s about it. They’re basically part of the same group like me, sporting their own styles on it though. I myself stand for my leather jackets, tight skinny jeans with rips and holes, medium gauges, wrists covered in bands from concerts and fingers bearing a few rings.

Taking another drag, I let my thoughts wander. Being one of the first people to arrive at school everyday, you get to know who else arrives early. For example, I know that my friends Felix and Ken either arrive at the same time right before the bell rings, or either of them arrives a few minutes after the bell rang and is a little too late for class. But one other person who arrives nearly as early as myself is Mark.

Mark Fischbach is one of the most popular guys in the school. He’s the open bi guy, rocking the pastel aesthetic like it’s his second skin. Everyday a flowercrown adorns his head, soft pinks, blues and purples are his usual colours for clothes, combined with black accessories and jeans. He has his own best friends, Bob and Wade I believe, though he’s always surrounded by a flock of girls and boys alike. He never was hard to spot though, even surrounded by others. Not only did his attire stick out, but also his hair. A mop of brightly colored hair, hot pink like bubblegum, in a sea of browns, blacks and blonds just stuck out. The raven-black sides weren’t even noticable.

Even though Mark was one of the most popular kids in school, being so open with being bi had brought him a lot of trouble. Most girls just thought of it as a joke and didn’t take it serious, and most guys took it that the guy used it as excuse to say he was gay and tried to hide it. So the poor pastel guy got bullied from time to time, though when he was around others, nothing really bad happened. I doubt anything really bad _ever_  happens to the guy, he’s loved too much.

I’m startled out of my thoughts at a sudden shout from around the corner. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t really place it. The following laughter told me all I needed to know anyways: Some punks decided to beat some kid up away from prying eyes. I didn’t want anything to do with it, so instead I just finished my cig in silence, toning out as much as I could from the beating happening.

“Stop! P-please!”, a plea from the poor kid getting beaten up rang out again, followed shortly by a painful yelp and laughter from the guys beating the other up. Having heard the voice more clearly this time, a frown found its way on my face. That sounded awfully familiar. Almost like the bubbly pastel boy, who surely had arrived at school a while ago…  
Deciding to check out whatever the fuck was going on, I walked to the corner, looking around it to whoever was there. It indeed were some punks, three to be exact, one holding a baseball bat laying on his shoulder.

Letting my eyes trail down to the ground, to see if my suspicions were true, my blood ran cold. There on the dirty ground, curled up in on himself, was the normally always bright and happy Mark Fischbach.  
The slightly too large sweatshirt, which covered a white button up shirt, was stained from the dust and dirt on the ground, making ugly spots on the otherwise brightly colored sweatshirt, originally fading from a bright baby blue to pink and then a soft lavender colour. There was no flowercrown like usual on his head, which made me look around. I found it laying on the ground not too far away, the crown consisting of white roses. At least one had been torn off though and it had been stomped in the ground.

“Never learned your lesson, huh faggot?”, the guy with the bat asked, an evil smirk on his lips. He took a swing with his bat, which collided with Mark’s arms, which he held protectively in front of his head. The action gained him a painful whimper from Mark, causing his companions to laugh at the boy on the ground. 

My blood boiled at the sight. How could they!? Mark was a sweet boy who did _nothing_ wrong. He especially did nothing that would call for such actions.  
I watched as another one of them pulled away Mark’s arms from his face and lifted him off the ground by the front of his shirt. Slamming Mark against the wall, the guy pressed his arm against his throat, cutting off his way to breathe.

Mark grasped at the arm holding him in place, choking him, trying to get it away. He knew he wouldn’t get _killed_ , but getting choked still terrified him.  
“P-please, leave me alone”, he whimpered, breathlessly, eyes glistening with tears. 

The guy let go of him, but before Mark could react in any way, he was hit in the stomach with a strong punch, which brought the guy back to his knees. One arm wrapped around his stomach, the other on the ground to help him keeping upright, he had no chance of making the next blow that came softer -a kick to his unprotected chest.  
Gasping and yelping in pain, Mark fell once again to his side. The punks just laughed at him, the one with the bat adjusting his grip on the weapon and preparing for another swing. They hadn’t expected me to be there and interfere though, because I had approached quietly and now had a strong grip around the bat. Using the moment of confusion, I yanked the bat out of the guy’s grip and used the momentum to spin and swing the bat at the guy, hitting him strongly in his side.  


“Get the fock away from ‘im”, I growled at them, eyes narrowed in a glare.  
“Or what?”, the guys asked instead, focusing on me instead of Mark, laughing at me. Sure, I was even smaller than the pastel boy -though not by much- but I was determined to protect the guy I had a crush on.  
“Or I’ll bust yer kneecaps in, is whot”, I replied and took two swift steps towards another one of the guys, swinging the bat and connecting it with the guy’s knee. He screamed out in pain and held his knee with both arms, hopping on one leg.  
“Now piss off”, I growled, and if it weren’t for the hurt guy, they probably would’ve stayed. Their strength laid in numbers, so with one guy down, they decided to retreat -but not without throwing threats of coming back to get me at me.  


My attention shifted to the guy on the ground once they left, taking in the picture of him curled up on himself, his bright pastel clothes stained with dust and dirt, fluffy pink hair messy and dirt stuck in its strands. His shoulders were trembling, like he was sobbing, but he was quiet -except some sniffles.  
“Hey”, my voice was much softer than before, kneeling down next to Mark. The poor guy flinched from hearing my voice suddenly.  
“They’re gone. Fockin’ bastards”, I told him, muttering the last part while looking down the path they had left on.  


“Th-thank you”, Mark stuttered, pushing himself into a sitting position. He rubbed at his eyes with his sleeves, drying tears that were threatening to spill -or maybe had spilled already.  
“No problem”, I replied and smiled at him, which caused a small smile to appear on the other’s face as well.  
“C’mon, let’s get ya cleaned up”, I got back on my feet and held a hand out to Mark, who clearly hesitated before taking it. I pulled him to his feet, letting go of his warm hand.  


I turned around and went to pick up his flower crown, frowning at seeing it. Not only was it dirty, but the fake flowers were crushed and the crown ruined. Turning back around to Mark, the slightly taller boy was trying to get as much dirt out of his clothes as possible, shaking his shirt and patting his black skinny jeans. I couldn’t help but take in his appearance, his sturdy build and broad shoulders, the way his hair bounced slightly from his motions. Only when I noticed that Mark was finished and looking at me, head slightly tilted as if in question, did I tear my eyes away from him, a light pink dusting my cheeks.

“Yer flowercrown’s ruined”, I muttered, not looking at him while handing it back to Mark. He just smiled though and took it, carefully rubbing the flowers to get them a little cleaner.  
“It’s okay. I can make a new one”, he told me, fiddling with the flowers to try and save the crown from its unfortunate fate. I chuckled lightly and nodded, starting to walk with Mark. I would’ve told him to go home, take a sick day maybe, to get a change of clothes and take care of the pain he’d been afflicted, but Mark was a guy who never missed school and a sick day was out of the question as long as he could avoid it.

“How are ya? Those guys did quite a number to ya”, I asked then, looking at Mark with concern. He surely would get bruises on his arms from that hit with the bat, and on his stomach and chest probably as well, from the punch and kick. Mark didn’t deserve pain like that.  
“I’m fine”, Mark replied though, a bright smile on his face. “Thanks to you, I didn’t get hurt badly”, he said, looking so bright and happy like nothing bad had happened at all. It concerned me, but I decided not to question it any further.

“I’m Mark by the way”, he introduced himself then, after a moment of silence had passed between us. He was smiling brightly at me, having picked out the dirt from his hair while walking. It almost liked like nothing had ever happened.  
“’m Sean. Call me Jack though”, I introduced myself with a grin. Mark nodded, back to facing where we were going.  
“Pleasure to talk to you Jack!”. He sounded so genuine and happy about it, that I couldn’t help but smile, feeling my cheeks grow slightly warmer. I hope Mark wouldn’t pick up on it and figure out that I had a crush on him.  
“It’s nice talkin’ to ya as well”, I replied after a beat of silence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea if I will continue this or not.  
> I just had fun writing it and I liked the AU/idea from other fics I've read a whole lot.  
> Sadly I'm not that good with writing any kind of person that I can't form to my will, like real life people, so they're probably very ooc.  
> Otherwise, I'm known not to finish fics, so...
> 
> As long as I have fun with it and have ideas, I will maybe continue writing it?  
> Otherwise, feel free to pick this fic up wherever you like and continue it yourself ^^


	2. Chapter 2

Sitting in the back of the class, Felix joined soon after the bell rang. He always stood out with his many tattoos, all over his arms, going from his back over his shoulder up his neck, and of course his various piercings. Viper bites, a septum and eyebrow piercing, I heard he wanted to add some more piercings to his ears as well.

He flopped into his seat next to me, clearly out of breath, causing me to chuckle. I never understood why he tended to come late to school, though he didn’t understand how I could come so early to school either.  
“’sup Fel?”, I greeted him, kicking back my chair and getting into a more comfortable position. I would’ve put my feet on the table as well, but I got enough trouble as it is.

Felix just groaned, running a hand through his hair, tidying it up a little. He did take great care of his dark blond locks after all. He didn’t give me an answer, instead letting his gaze travel through the class -probably checking who was even later than he was- before his gaze fell on me. Or rather the bat leaning against the wall by my seat.  
“Why d’you have a bat?”, he asked, raising a brow in questioning. He knew I wasn’t the violent type -not even thinking I could be playing any sports- so his confusion was to be expected.

“Ran into some punks, gave ‘em a baytin’”, I answered and shrugged lazily. Felix didn’t necessarily need to know that I saved Mark from getting beaten the shit out of him, the guy knew of my secret crush after all.  
“Good job bro”, Felix grinned at me and I couldn’t help but grin back. He was always up for beating some guys up, especially when it were guys who deserved it.

The rest of class went by uneventful, mostly with me and Felix not listening to the teacher and not taking notes at all. We weren’t the best, really, but we got by anyways. When the bell rang again and finally released us to leave for lunchtime, I grabbed my bag and left the class. I hadn’t took anything out of it, so nothing to pack either, and waiting for Felix would be futile anyways -he always stuck around a while talking to some other guy.

I stopped by my locker to put some books out of my bag I wouldn’t need the rest of the day, instead getting some I needed to at least lay on my desk, otherwise my teacher would freak out. But I decided to keep the baseball bat with me, since I’m pretty sure those guys would want it back, and I wasn’t going to just give it back to them to get beaten with it. So, bag slung over one shoulder and bat over the other, I made my way to the cafeteria.

Immediately upon opening the doors and stepping inside, my ears were attacked by noise worse than in the halls. Everyone was talking with everyone it seemed, the usual groups sitting together at their usual tables. Letting my gaze travel over the mass of people, I easily spotted Mark with his friends. He had just been pulled up by one of them -Wade, I believe- by the arm to drag him along to somewhere. I noticed the look of pain crossing Mark’s face, which was probably caused by the forming bruises on his arms.

Shaking my head, I made got on my way to get something to eat. Maybe Ken was already at our table and I wouldn’t have to wait around for Felix. Not that it bothered me to sit alone, but I didn’t feel like skipping lunch to get into a fight because of this morning. At least Mark seemed to be okay and unlikely to get attacked again, he was surrounded by his friends after all.

Once some lunch had found its way into my hands, I soon got to my usual spot and let myself fall onto the bench, letting the bat rest between my legs, so that it wouldn’t roll around on the ground. Ken joined not soon after, wearing his usual attire of dark jeans, some shirt and an old denim vest, paired with various chains as accessories.   
“Hey Jackaboy”, he greeted me with his usual friendly smile. I never understood how he came to be friends with me and Felix, he seemed like an easily approachable guy. Kind of like a huge teddy bear even.  
“What’s up with that bat?”, of course he would point it out, but thanks to Felix great timing, I didn’t have to answer.  
“Gave some punks a beating this morning, or so I heard”, Felix answered while sitting down opposite of us, with a cheeky grin on his face.  
“What’d the guys do?”, Ken asked, curious as to why I would beat someone up. He knew I wouldn’t beat anyone up without reason after all.  
“T’was an unfair fight they were havin’”, I replied with a shrug. “Couldn’ stand wotchin’ a poor guy gettin’ beaten”.

“Uuuhhh~”, Felix’s grin grew wider, wiggling his eyebrows. “Saving your pastel prince, eh?”, he laughed at the glare I send him as answer, knowing full well he was right.  
“Mark, right?”, Ken asked, looking over his shoulder to see if he could spot the boy. It was usually easiest during lunch, since Ken was taller than most anyone while everyone was sitting, so it was always rather easy for him to spot the pink blob of hair.  
“Yeh!”, Felix replied with a nod, shit-eating grin on his face. He loved to rub my crush into my face and tease me with it, earning himself more than often a punch or not.  
“Other than he’s missing his crown, he seems fine”, Ken noticed, having spotted the boy while he was walking back to his seat with Wade, deep in conversation. Even I could hear his laugh, which did cause a small smile to appear on my lips. It was just relieving to know he really was okay.

Toning out their conversation that was following, I focused on my lunch. I was still kind of worried about Mark, he had refused to get ice packs or do _anything_  for his bruises.

_“I’ll be fine, Jack”, Mark had said with a grin, washing out some of the stains on his sweater. I leaned against one of the stalls, watching him with a doubtful look._  
_“Ya sure?”, I asked, earning a chuckle from the guy._  
_“Pretty sure Jack”, he replied with a grin. He had opted to put his ruined flower crown in his bag, since he couldn’t wear it anymore without announcing to everyone that something was totally wrong._  
_“Thanks for saving me again”, he said then, turning to me once more. I waved it off, saying it was nothing. He still was grateful for it though. When he saw the time, he excused himself, saying he was going to meet someone before school starts, and hurried away. I watched him leave, before sighing softly to myself and kicking off the stall, exiting the room as well._

“Earth to Jack, come in pa-lease”, ripped out of my thoughts, I shook my head to be met with a hand waving in front of my face, which I quickly shoved away.  
“Come one bro, or you wanna skip class with your loverboy?”, Felix asked with a grin, which I replied to with a shove. Standing up, I grabbed my bag and the bat, before leaving the cafeteria with Felix. Most students had already left, Ken as well, going to their next class.  
“Shut yer trap, Felix”, I growled at him, which caused the taller of us to chuckle in amusement. Art was the only class I had together with Mark, though we never interacted unless we somehow got forced to. Otherwise I stayed by myself and Felix, who also had the same class.

We were starting new projects, collages, which was why almost everyone in class had brought with them old magazines and newspapers with plenty of pictures in them to cut out. We were allowed to make anything, as long as it filled out our sheet we had. It was rather big, so many kids were doubtful if they could make it work. Most just decided to gather things from the magazines and throw something together with what they gathered -me included. I had no idea what to make, so I just started cutting out random things I found that I could use. Luckily we were allowed to use stickers as well, so I had brought some I still had in advance. Most of them were from bands and some from magazines, but I also got some stickers I had just randomly found. Which were flower stickers.  
Felix raised a brow knowingly at that, teasing me about them. “You wanna give those to Markiboy huh?”.  
“Fock off”, was all I replied, punching him more or less softly in the shoulder, before continuing to cut out something, ignoring his chuckling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gdi I have no idea how to write Felix or Ken, so forgive me for that  
> But I warned y'all for OoC-ness, so yeah. Gotta live with that bros.  
> Other than that, here ya got another chapter!  
> And forgive me about my non-existent knowledge about high schools, because I have no clue how they work and I use knowledge I got from reading fics  
> So yeah!


	3. Chapter 3

I was immersed in my work, pushing around cut-out words, letters and pictures, trying to make something I liked without gluing anything down just yet. Art was one of the few classes I actually liked after all, especially since it was rather easy most of the time. So I didn’t notice the presence of another person hovering behind me, watching me work, until their voice startled me out of my thoughts.

“You’re working pretty hard on this”. Turning around, I was met with the smiling face of Mark, who had apparently watched me work on my collage.  
“Don’ want ta get a bad grade fer somethin’ as easy as this”, I replied and shrugged lightly, turning my gaze back to what I was doing. I didn’t want to risk blushing while Mark was so close to me - _because_  he was so close to me.  
“Can’t wait to see it finished”, Mark said then and chuckled lightly. It gave me a hard time to concentrate on anything, especially on not blushing from the sound.

“Say, Jack. Could I have some of your stickers?”, Mark asked then, after a moment of silence passed by us. I let out a silent breath of relief, I couldn’t do anything with him so close to me and I _knew_  that Felix was probably splitting his face in half with his grin.  
“Sure thing. Pick any ya like”, I replied, spreading the stickers I still had laying next to my sheet out a little more, so that Mark could see them more easily.

I tried to focus back on my work, going back to moving the pieces around, while trying not to watch what Mark was choosing. I did steal glances though, watching Mark’s hand moving the stickers and cut-out pictures around, collecting most of the flower stickers.  
“I’ll take these, okay?”, he asked, prompting me to finally really look up and to his small collection. I smiled, seeing that he picked out the flower stickers I had brought ~~specifically for him~~.  
“Yep”, I nodded and watched his face light up. He picked up the stickers and held them close to his chest, like they were the most precious things.  
“Thank you!”, he beamed at me, before skipping away back to his seat, leaving me by myself to blush slightly, turning to my collage again.

“Broooo”, Felix plopped on the stool next to me, nudging my shoulder. “Your flowerboy talked to you! How you feeling?”, he asked, grin on his face.  
“Fock off Fel”, I shoved him harshly, making him almost fall off the stool, which brought an amused smile to my lips.  
“Embarrassed much?”, Felix just said with a laugh and went back to his actual seat, to work more on his own collage. Still almost next to me, but at least I could focus back on my work now. I still had no idea how to arrange anything though, and the class was almost over as well. I basically hadn’t even started yet!

After a few more minutes of senselessly pushing around stickers and pictures, I groaned in annoyance and let my head meet the table. Maybe I should give up for now and just continue this misery the next time.  
“Excuse me”, came a voice above and behind me then. “Do you need help to start?”, the person asked. I didn’t even care who it was, not paying attention.  
“Obvious eh?”, I muttered, causing the person to chuckle. “Go a’ead an’ start fer me”, I waved my hand slightly, not really caring. If something was started on my sheet, I’d be satisfied. No one could say he hadn’t done anything then after all.  
“Will do!”, with those words, the person pushed the stickers away from the middle of the sheet, which was slightly above my head, and a second later tapped my shoulder.  
“There. Maybe that will help you”, they said and I sighed, raising my head to see what the person had put on my sheet.

Just above the middle of the sheet was a medium sized sticker. It was a dark red heart, with some patches sewn on it, a band-aid and a black outline. I didn’t have the sticker before, so the person had used one of their own. I didn’t dislike it though.  
“Thanks”, I said and turned around to look who had helped me. I was met with the friendly and bright smile of Mark, again.  
“No problem! I thought you’d like this sticker maybe, and since you seemed to be stuck..”, he trailed off, looking back to the sheet, were now his sticker was right in the middle.  
“He, yeah. ‘s not easy”, I shrugged, but smiled. How did I deserve Mark’s kindness? Even if he was basically nice to everyone he met, I still wondered that.  
“Well, hopefully now you’ll have it easier!”, Mark replied with a bright smile, right as the bell chimed, signalling the end of class.  
“Oh”, Mark turns to look at the clock, like he hadn’t realized it had been near the end of class. “Gotta store my stuff away. See ya later, Jack!”, he gave another small smile, before hurrying back to his seat to grab his things and put them away.

I couldn’t help but smile, a soft pink on my cheeks once more, while I put my stickers and cut-out pictures somewhere safe and put my sheet away -after writing my name on the back. Grabbing my bag, I left the class and entered the busy hallways, not waiting for Felix. I didn’t need more of his teasing at all, so better avoid him until I couldn’t any more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah a shorter chapter, but eh. Felt like a good place to stop  
> More interaction with Markimoo! Yeah!!  
> Also, I'm really glad no one minds some ooc-ness, that's a huge relief xD  
> Though it's to be expected, the ooc-ness I mean, since who would know how'd they be in high school and in the AU they're in? xD  
> And! I do read every comment, just so that you know!  
> I don't like replying to them, since it counts as comment and is seen in the stats and stuff, and I don't wanna push the numbers up :x


	4. Chapter 4

Laying on my back, I scrolled through my phone. School had ended and I didn’t really have anything to do today, no plans and nothing. It had started raining a while ago, the rhythm heavy and loud against my window. It was nice background noise, much better than the TV or radio could ever be, in my opinion at least. Nature sounds were the best, usually. Storms, rain, thunder, wind, even birds tweeting were far better than listening to some TV show or the same songs that always play.

Putting my phone away, I stared out of the window. I was bored out of my mind. After a while of mindless watching the rain fall against my window, I got up and stretched a little. Watching a movie sounded good right now, especially since I was home alone anyways. Not that anyone usually is home besides me, but I don’t really care. At least my family’s nice enough. So, going down the stairs, I wandered into the kitchen first. Who would watch a movie without some kind of snacks after all? And some soda would be pretty good as well, though I could settle with something else as well.

Going through the cupboards was a disappointment though. We barely had anything! Probably one of my siblings emptied everything, fucking douchebags. And then expecting someone else to go buy more from their own money and everyone can take shit for free. Sighing in annoyance, I looked out a window again. I had nothing better to do than go outside and go shopping, and I could just stash away what I bought in my room...

Running my hand through my hair, I went and got my jacket and a big umbrella. Normal ones were fine and all, but I really don’t want to get drenched on my way. And having a big family resulted in having a few big umbrellas that fit at least two people comfortably. Pulling on a beanie as well, just for the cold that came with the rain, I pocketed my wallet and keys, before exiting the house.

The rain fell heavy against my umbrella while I walked. I plugged my headphones into my phone, to listen to some music while walking. As nice as walking in the rain was, I am a man on a mission, to get snacks. No need to drift off into thoughts because of the rain and getting distracted, ending up taking a walk and not buying what I want. Though I did decide to take the longer route at least, to appreciate the rain a little while out.

Soon I was on my way back home, a plastic shopping bag slung over my shoulder while I walked. I was already thinking about what to watch, there were some new movies I hadn’t watched yet, but there were a lot of older ones I’ve watched already that I could watch again. I wouldn’t be against it at least. My mind started to wander through the films I’ve already watched, going through memories. Which let me to wander physically as well, if only a little.

When I finally noticed that I was wandering through the park, I groaned in annoyance. It would take me at least five more minutes than the normal longer route I usually took! Well, it could’ve been worse. At least the park was empty and I could enjoy the scenery in the rain.  
Or so I thought at least. There sitting under a tree was a person. Thanks to the grey sky and heavy falling rain, every colour seemed much duller and faded, but I still recognized the pastel coloured sweater. A frown found itself on my face, was that Mark sitting there?

Walking over, I took in his appearance. He was curled up on himself, hugging his knees close to his chest. His clothes were drenched, his hair sticking to his face and dripping. There was still rain pouring on him, but much less thanks to the tree he was sitting under. What the fuck was he doing here? Without jacket or an umbrella?  
Standing in front of him, I held my umbrella a little forward, so that it was shielding Mark from the rain as well. Sure it wouldn’t do much, since he was already drenched, but it would help keep the cold rain from hitting him. He was already shaking from the cold!

When the guy noticed that no more rain was falling on him, he hesitantly looked up. Pink strands were sticking on his forehead, his eyes were red and puffy. He had obviously been crying, even if the rain hid the tears.  
“J-jack?”, his voice was quiet, no happiness was to be found in it. He almost sounded broken. It made my heart clench.  
“Hey Mark”, I greeted, keeping my voice soft and gentle. “What are ye doing out here?”, I was genuinely worried. He surely had a reason, right?  
He looked away from me, rubbing at his eyes with his wet sleeves. He seemed uncomfortable, staying silent instead of answering. This was serious.

“C’mon, let’s go t’ my place”, I held a hand out to him, offering to help him stand up. He looked confused up at me, tilting his head in a questioning manor. I had noticed he always does that, when he doesn’t understand something and wants, or needs, an explanation.  
“Can’t let ya stay out ‘ere in ta rain. Ya’ll catch a cold”, I explained and smiled at him, hoping he would trust me. He had no reason not to, right? I mean, sure, I didn’t have a good reputation in school, but that hadn’t stopped him from talking to me before.  
It took a few moments, but he finally smiled back -a small little smile- and took my hand. I helped him back to his feet and pulled him under the umbrella, making sure he was okay and then starting to walk.

I had pulled my headphones down, to not seem rude towards Mark. We walked in silence, the only sounds being our footsteps, the rain falling on the umbrella and the shopping bag. It really disturbed the atmosphere, the crinkling of the plastic, but who was I to judge?  
Looking over at Mark, I could still see him shaking. He was hugging himself more or less, to preserve heat probably, and looking at the ground. He looked so sad and I had no idea why. I had seen him walk away from school with his friends, so surely no bullies had decided to pick a fight with him again, so what else could have happened? Something with his friends? Family?

I sighed softly, letting my gaze fall back in front of us, focusing on the way. At least no one was at home who could bother Mark further or ask questions, and no one was probably gonna come either, so that was good. But I would worry more about what to do later, since I didn’t want to wander off mindlessly again, especially since Mark was following me now.   
So we made it to my home in silence, and it stayed silent until we were both standing inside. I shook the umbrella, to get the rain off, and put it away, pulling off my shoes. Mark just stood there in silence, glancing around, but looking at his feet mostly.

“How ‘bout ya stay here ‘til the storm gone?”, I asked him, turning to face Mark again. He looked a little startled, facing me again, and fidgeted with his sleeve.  
“Uhm.. If- if that’s okay with you..”, he finally said, stuttering slightly. Probably from the cold, or because of how awkward this was.  
“Ya wanna take a shower? Get worm an’ dry. I can lend ya some clothes of my brother’s, should fit ya”, Jack offered then. He knew he wasn’t that close to Mark, nor would he consider them as being friends, but he liked Mark, and he had a crush on the guy.  
Mark stuttered in return, turning his gaze back to the ground for a moment.  
“M-maybe I...”, he started, but trailed off. I let him think, waiting patiently. It took a few minutes, or so it felt like, before he seemed to have decided and pulled his shoes off.  
“Thank you, Jack..”, he mumbled then, causing me to smile softly. I pat his shoulder, glad that he looked up to me then.  
“It’s no problem man. C’mon, let’s get ya fresh ‘n’ clean”, I grinned and he chuckled lightly, nodding.

I dropped off the shopping bag next to the living room, before leading Mark upstairs. I would worry about the water that dripped from him later, while Mark was showering. So I showed him the bathroom and gave him some towels, telling him what he could use -mostly anything, only the things from my sisters shouldn’t be touched- and left the room again. I told him I’d lay some clothes in front of the door and wait downstairs in the living room, giving him his privacy.  
Going into the room of my oldest brother, I went through his drawer to get some clothes that should fit Mark. He wasn’t very much taller than me, but he was much _wider_  than me. So my clothes wouldn’t fit. My brother though, he had more of Mark’s build, though he was also taller than me or Mark. Oh well, it could be worse.

Pulling out some clean and fresh boxers, some sweatpants, a shirt and a hoodie I usually took from him anyways, I placed the clothes in front of the closed and locker bathroom door, were I could hear the water running in the shower already. We sadly didn’t have a dryer for his clothes, so they would need to dry on their own. There were some racks for his clothes to hang on, so they hopefully would dry soon. Or maybe someone could come pick Mark up later, and he could just bring me the clothes again tomorrow? I’d ask him that once he was done and downstairs with me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It got a little sad  
> But it was planned from the start, Markimoo is a sad boy  
> I still have no clue what I'm even doing, I'm just having fun writing this  
> Also I'm sick so that might also be why Mark has to suffer


	5. Chapter 5

I had settled down on the couch, TV on and looking through Netflix for a film to watch. Probably something I already watched though, I’m feeling like some nostalgia. I had some snacks and soda on the coffee table in front of me, and had a blanket wrapped around me. There was a second one I had gotten from my room, for when Mark came down to join me. I was still wondering what had happened to him, but I wasn’t sure if I should ask him again or not. He seemed to not want to talk about it at least.

I hadn’t noticed time passing at all, until I heard steps coming down the stairs. Pausing in my deciding of which movie I should pick, I looked over to the doorway, waiting for Mark to appear. And when he did, it took my breath away.  
He looked incredibly different. Dark grey sweatpants that covered his feet, the black hoodie hanging almost over his hip with the sleeves too long, covering his hands. The design of guns ‘n’ roses didn’t fit at all to him, his bubblegum pink hair the only fleck of colour on his being. It was still damp by the looks of it, just towel-dried.

“J-jack?”, Mark sounded unsure and I had to shake my head to stop _staring_  at him. Because he looked so _different_  from usual, without his pastel coloured clothes and in something so baggy. Instead of staring, I smiled brightly at him, motioning for him to come over. He was hesitant at first, but came over and sat down next to me.  
“Let’s watch a movie, yeah?”, I gave him the extra blanket I had, looking at the TV again. I could bet he was still unsure about all this, but he seemed better now that he was out of his wet clothes.

He was still rather quiet, but we decided on a movie together and each had a soda in the end in our hands. Mark knew the movie as well, so we had a lot of fun watching it. He warmed up quickly enough thankfully, I wouldn’t think I could’ve stood it if we stayed quiet all the time.  
After the first movie ended, I decided to talk to Mark. I had to, even if I’d love to just continue watching movies with him and get to be friends.  
“So Mark”, I started, to get his attention. And it did, causing the other male to look at me with a tilted head.  
“Can someone pick ya up ‘ere? Or...”, at my question, his gaze fell again, just like his expression. He looked rather sad again, like he didn’t like the mention of his family at all.  
“Ah... mh..”, Mark fidgeted with the end of his sleeve again, a nervous habit he seemed to have. I didn’t like how uncomfortable he looked, and I guessed the answer to my question was “no” anyways.  
“Ya wanna stay with me tonight?”, I asked instead. “I doubt anyone will come home tanight, so if ya want. It’d be cool”. His clothes _probably_  wouldn’t be dry by tomorrow morning, which meant he either had to go home early in the morning so that he could get his own clothes, or he’d have to go in my brother’s clothes. Which I wouldn’t mind most certainly, but Mark probably would.

“I... I can go home”, Mark answered then, voice quiet and small. “After the storm... b-but thank you Jack”, he looked up to me again, with a small smile on his face. It caused me to smile as well, though I was still a little unsure. The storm surely wouldn’t pass for a good while, and I wouldn’t want him to go home in the middle of the night. Sighing, I just nodded.  
“Let’s watch some more movies, ‘til the storm’s over then”, I said with a more genuine smile. He smiled wider as well, glad that the conversation about this was over, and we both turned back to the TV. Settling back to continue watching movies and eating the snacks I bought.

I was immersed in the movie we were watching, when I suddenly felt a weight on my shoulder. Surprised, I looked towards Mark and instantly blushed. He had fallen asleep, snoring softly, his head laying on my shoulder. It was already late in the night, the storm calmed down and now only soft rain was beating a soft and steady rhythm against the windows. I’m glad Mark had decided to stay and not leave before the storm passed, and that he was now asleep. I didn’t want him to go home through the rain even with a borrowed umbrella and borrowed clothes. Whatever had happened at his home, with his family, I didn’t want him back there for now.

I stopped the movie and turned off the TV, before carefully adjusting Mark to lay down on the couch, instead of leaning on me. He shouldn’t sleep sitting and leaning on me, even if the couch wasn’t the most comfortable spot to sleep on either. But still better. I got up carefully, trying not to wake up Mark, and laid my blanket over him as well. They were both rather thin and I had my own in my room too after all.  
I looked at Mark, at his peaceful sleeping face. His pink hair had dried over time and now hang in uncontrolled strands in his face. Even without his pastel colours, he looked incredible innocent and pure.

Shaking my head softly, I put away the snacks and sodas, tidying up a little, and getting the rest of the unconsumed snacks to bring to my room. I was already changed into comfortable clothes, having done that earlier when Mark had showered, so I was getting in bed as soon as I was in my room basically. I just hoped that Mark wouldn’t freak out or anything once he woke up and noticed that it was morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have so much fun writing this holy heck  
> I'm already writing the next chapter xD  
> Feel free to make suggestions to what should happen btw! I'd love to get some ideas <3  
> Otherwise, I've gotten over the nervousness of "How do I write these characters" "How do I write high school" "How do I write _anything_ " and just write  
> Which is great! Because if you don't care much about how you're writing, then you don't overanalyze stuff and stuff  
> SO YEAH ENOUGH RAMBLING THANKS FOR READING SEE YA TOMORROW


	6. Chapter 6

Getting ripped out from dreams is the worst feelings ever. Grabbing blindly for my phone, I turn off the alarm. Why does school have to be so early? No one is productive in the morning, nor has a long attention span or anything. Groaning in annoyance, I fall back into my pillow, arm over my eyes. At least it’s the end of the week, soon the weekend would be here and I didn’t have to get up early and go to fucking school.  
Remembering that I had a guest sleeping downstairs, I sighed and pulled myself out of bed. First going to wake up Mark and make coffee, then the rest.

Walking down the stairs, I didn’t hear anything, which led me to believe that Mark was probably still asleep. Looking into the living room, I was met with an empty couch -except two folded blankets. Furrowing my brows, I looked into the kitchen, which was also empty.  
“Mark?”, I called out. “Where are ye?”. I was met with silence, so I went to the front door to see if his shoes were still there. They were not, though. I did find a sticky note on the door though -looked like the ones we kept in the kitchen. Taking it, I read over it.  
“Morning Jack! I already left to get home and change, sorry for not saying goodbye. I’ll give you back the clothes in school later today! Thanks again for letting me stay! -Mark”. So he woke up earlier than me and left, which would be okay, if I wouldn’t be worrying about him still.

Well, I would see him later in school anyways, then I could see if he was okay again. So I went to the kitchen and made coffee, went to the bathroom and took a quick shower, dressed and got breakfast afterwards. A normal morning alone, which made me wonder when someone from my family would come home again. Probably later while I’m in school or sometime, somehow we all avoid each other as much as possible.  
Shrugging the thoughts away, I grabbed my jacket and threw it on, grabbed my bag and left the house, locking the door behind me. Checking if I had everything -wallet, phone, keys- I made my way to school. I didn’t live far away thankfully, so I could just walk. And I always left early and arrived really early too, mostly so that I could walk alone and not see anyone and spend some time alone before school as well.

Arriving at school, I pulled out a cig and my lighter, going behind the building. It reminded me of yesterday morning, where Mark had gotten beaten up. I shook my head, surely that was a one time thing. So I leaned against the wall and lit my cigarette, taking a drag. Now I could let my mind wander.  
It wandered towards Mark. He always seemed so happy and approachable, but after yesterday I’m not so sure if his life is as happy as it seems. Sure, I wouldn’t have thought he has no problems at all, but I wouldn’t have thought that he has so _big_  problems, that leave him running away from home in the middle of a storm and sitting sobbing under a tree. Even in school, I knew he was bullied verbally and shoved around often, but apparently also beaten up when no one was looking. It concerns me extremely, to be honest.  
Crush aside, I’d like to get to know him better. Just so that I could protect his smile and happiness, that he wouldn’t need to be alone when he got shit from anyone.

Getting ripped out of my thoughts by the school bells is the second worst feeling. Groaning, I threw the rest of my cig to the ground and stomped it out, crushing it under my heel, before making my way to the front of the school to get inside. On my way I spotted Mark, carrying his normal schoolbag and another bag -probably with the clothes he had borrowed from me.  
I saw him wearing a black nearly translucent top, with darker vertical stripes, over it a thin sweater -bright blue fading into pink- which went over his hips and had black spots at the end. The collar of it was down his chest, showing a ripped black Shirt underneath. The sleeves were like wings and only went to his elbows, the sweater ripped there as well, also having black spots at their ends.  
He did wear black skinny jeans again and pink converse, also some black gloves and a flowercrown made with black roses, decorated with some viens and thorns.

He had a bright smile on his lips, talking with some girl. I could see the bruises on his lower arms, but it seemed like he had already found an excuse for why he had them, since no one seemed very concerned about them. I wondered what they would think if they knew how he had gotten them.  
Sighing, I decided to not care too much and just go to class. It was when I walked inside, that I saw Felix sprinting towards the school. It made me laugh and shake my head, just continuing to walk. Why wait for him after all, he’d get here on his own just fine.

Classes dragged on. I made fun of Felix for being too late, and with his help got my mind off of Mark as well. We made plans for the weekend, to meet up Saturday with Ken and go out. Drinking, dancing, maybe getting the guys some chicks, who knew? Both of them knew at least I wouldn’t get over my crush that easily, though they would both probably _try_  at least.  
When it was finally time for lunch, I left Felix to talk with this guy he always seemed to talk to only after class. Some brunette with blue eyes and glasses. Looked like a total nerd, but who am I to judge, crushing on the pastel boy?

Walking out of the class, I went to my locker to put most of my books away. I still had the ones from yesterday in it and didn’t need them at all, really.  
“Hey guys, wait a moment for me”, a voice somewhere behind me said, which I didn’t really pay much attention to. At least until someone was standing next to me.  
“Hey Jack”, the guy greeted with a smile, and I was met with the warm brown eyes of Mark when I looked over. I smiled back at him, glad to see him okay.  
“Here are the clothes I borrowed. Thanks again”, he said and gave me the bag he had been carrying around. I took it and nodded.  
“No problem. Ya can count on me”, I told him with a grin, which earned a soft smile from Mark and- was he blushing?  
“I’ll be going then. See you later!”, Mark hurried off, very clearly red in the face. It caused me to blush a little as well, I wouldn’t have thought I’d ever get to see Mark blush, especially because of _me_.

Putting the bag in my locker, to get it after school, I made my way to the cafeteria then. Before I got a chance to enter though, I was pulled aside. With no time to react, I felt a fist connect with my jaw, leaving me stumbling backwards. Guess the punks had decided to get some pay-back for getting stopped yesterday.  
Too bad for them that I grew up with two older brothers _and_  two older sisters. Because getting into arguments and fights, which led to many bruises and at least once even a broken bone, was an almost daily occurrence.

The fight didn’t last very long and ended in one of the two passed out on the ground and the other severely bruised. I didn’t get out of it without getting a little beaten up either, but I didn’t care much. What I did care about, however also not that much, was the shit I would have to listen to from some teacher before I got to go to the infirmary -together with the other two guys, even though the passed out guy got carried/dragged.  
I didn’t stay there long though, just got checked over, before I left again. I had no desire to stay there with them any longer, but at least they should stay away from me now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've written up to chapter 10 already, I don't even know what's happening here anymore xD  
> Nothing very important, that's for sure.  
> I have no idea what to write that would make sense here....  
> But!  
> I'll upload another chapter today, at the usual time (which is midnight for me)  
> Just because I can, so I hope y'all enjoy!


	7. Chapter 7

I wouldn’t know the consequences of my actions for a good while, as it came. The next day in school, I noticed that Mark wasn’t there. I had no idea why, but I worried anyways. Was he sick, because of the storm he had been in? Was something with his family? I had no idea and no way to contact him, but maybe I could ask his friends about him. I think I have a class with Wade together later in the day, so I would just ask then.

I had art again this day, which kind of made me sad, since it was one of the only classes I had with Mark and he wasn’t here. I worked on my collage though, thinking about Mark, until Felix distracted me by putting a smiley sticker on my face. It ended with us both covered in stickers neither of us would ever use on the collages, unless told to.  
I didn’t finish my collage yet, but we did have more time next week for them, so it was okay. I did get further with it at least, instead of the last time I tried to do anything with it. The heart sticker from Mark was the centerpiece though and everything else was more of a compliment to it, and decoration.

Later in the day, I went to Wade after class. We barely knew each other, so when I asked him about Mark, he was a little suspicious. He didn’t know anything about Mark either though, but he did give me Mark’s number -since he believed me that I told him we were friends. Though it did take some persuasion.  
After school, while walking home again, I texted Mark. I just wanted to make sure that he was okay after all, and I was really worrying about him.

**[Jack]:** **Hey Mark, it’s Jack here. Wade gave me your number, just wanted to make sure if you’re okay?**

**[Mark]: Hey Jack! I’m fine, just a little sick. Probably because of the storm... Would’ve been much worse without your help! :)**

**[Jack]: Good to hear! You gonna be in school tomorrow?  
**

**[Mark]: I don’t think so. I should be fine when the weekend is finally here though!**

****[Jack]: See ya monday then?**   
**

******[Mark]: Yup! See you Monday!**   
** **

With that, I put my phone away again. I was relieved to hear that he was just sick and would be better soon, though I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong. He’d probably tell me though, no? Shrugging it off, I just went on my way. I actually had stuff to do today at least, and that would help me get my mind off of things.

.

Fridays were the worst days. The day just drags on and on and you’re wondering why you’ve gotten out of bed in the first place, just to sit in school and learn basically nothing. Nothing important you would need in your life at least, so why bother listening? The only things I listened to were conversations others had and didn’t know I was listening.  
I happened to overhear a conversation from the punks I had beaten up, talking to some of their friends. Such conversations usually didn’t interest me at all, since they only talked about drugs and bullying, but when Mark’s name fell, I couldn’t help but listen.

_“His stupid_ boyfriend  _did the wrong thing beating us up”_  
 _“Fucking faggot probably ran crying into his mom’s arms”_  
 _“That little bitch deserved a real hard beating”_  
 _“Pussy doesn’t even fight back”_  
 _“Never learns his lesson either, so who the fuck cares?”_

My fists clenched at my sides, I noticed I was shaking. They had beaten Mark up again. _That’s why he wasn’t in school_. He probably wasn’t sick, but just hurting too much to go to school and hide all his bruises. It left my blood boiling in anger. When someone tapped me on the shoulder, I almost swung my fist in their face. Instead I just snapped at them with a “What?!”.  
“Chill bro. Just me”, Felix said, going to lean against the wall next to me. “What’s got you so bothered?”, he asked, eyebrow raised.  
“Fockin’ punks beat Mark up”, I answered with a growl. I’d love to beat the whole bunch of them up and make it clear to stay away from Mark.  
“So that’s why he’s not ‘n school?”, Felix asked and I nodded sharply. He sighed and shook his head, laying a hand on my shoulder.  
“Calm down bro. He’ll be fine and up to his usual bubbly self monday”, he assured me, which just caused me to sigh, letting the tension go from my fists and unclenching them. I couldn’t help Mark now anyways.

We spend the rest of the break talking and getting my mind off of Mark, even if that was rather hard to do. The rest of the day passed then as well, and me and Felix walked together then. We planned to spend the weekend together, especially since we planned to get smashed tomorrow. So today would be spent with planning and having fun.  
Which meant we mostly played video games at his home, his parents were away on a business trip and we could be as loud as we wanted. And no one would care when we got home after partying and sleeping the whole next day to get the alc out of our system.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not even 9pm now BUT I'M IMPATIENT SO THERE YOU GO  
> So what happened here... Jack got Mark's number finally and we know why Mark is missing in school!  
> I always feel like I'm uploading the wrong chapter when uploading, but I hope y'all tell me if I uploaded the wrong chapter xD  
> Also, I'm currently writing far too much. I already got 4 Septiplier fics up and guess who got ANOTHER IDEA  
> So yeah. Lowkey promoting my other works (one which I'll surely not continue any time soon xD)  
> And I'm probably going to write my next idea out, after eating my ice-cream I just got  
> ALSO  
> I have no idea when, but I think I recently described another outfit for Mark?  
> I hope y'all don't mind, I just like describing his clothes, because _pastel_  
>  So yeah, I may stop if it bothers anyone or smth ^^;


	8. Chapter 8

The sun was down, Felix, Ken and me were on the way to the club we usually went to. Ken was driving, being the oldest of us and also allowed to drive, having a license. Me and Felix _could_  drive, more or less, but we didn’t really want to break the law today. Tomorrow though, in the early morning hours, after getting smashed, then we probably wouldn’t care that much anymore.  
The radio was playing and we were singing along with it, none of us hitting any notes at all and barely knowing the lyrics either. But we had fun and didn’t give a shit about anything right now.

Arriving at the club, Ken parked and we went in. The place didn’t really care about your age, nor did they check IDs, so it was no problem at all. Loud music filled our ears as soon as we stepped in, the smell of alcohol, sugar and people mixed together filled our noses. Promising each other not to leave the club without telling one of us, we first went to the bar to get some drinks. It was a little quieter music wise there, but there was more talking that made up the volume.

Felix was the first to leave our little group, having spotted someone else he knew. Ken and me left the bar after a while to go on the dance floor, where Ken was quick to try to impress the ladies, while I was just having fun dancing to the music. Some girl approached me and we danced together, and I ended up buying her a drink in the end. She flirted a little and I humored her, flirting back, but not really being interested. I didn’t have to tell her off though, since Felix came to me then and fell into my side laughing -cue the girl leaving.  
It caused Felix to laugh, saying I wasn’t interested in her anyways, which brought me to laugh along.

We drank some more together, before Felix spotted someone I told me to go flirt with the person. They stood out with their bright pink sweater, hood up and hiding their face. Even though the sleeves only reached over their elbows, they probably wore a long-sleeved shirt underneath, since there was a pair of black sleeves tightly hugging their arms. Black skinny jeans and high black boots, the outfit completed by a bracelet made of pink and black flowers.  
They had a brightly coloured cocktail in front of them, their finger gliding along the rim. They seemed to be alone here, at least no one was with them and talking with them. Raising my brow at Felix, he shoved me and I laughed. Time to be social then.

I walked over and got on the stool next to them, luckily the seat was empty and didn’t look like anyone would come back to sit here.  
“’ello there”, I greeted the person next to me, ordering another drink for myself. From the build of the other person, I guessed it was a guy. I hadn’t grabbed his attention though, he probably didn’t think I was talking to him.  
“’m talkin’ to ya dude”, I said with a chuckle and nudged the guy. That did gain the attention of the guy, his finger stopping and laying his hand down next to his glass.  
“Sorry, lost in thoughts”, he replied. His voice was barely loud enough to be heard over the music and constant chatter around us, but I picked up the words. Was it someone I knew? I still couldn’t catch his face, and the only extra detail from his appearance I got was that there was some writing on his hoodie.  
“What’cha thinkin’ ‘bout?”, I asked, receiving my drink and taking a sip. Making small talk with some guy was always good, especially since the guy seemed like he didn’t much care.  
“Life”, he answered with a chuckle. His voice was deep and the chuckle was a beautiful sound I’d like to hear more of.  
“Life’s a bitch”, I said and received a laugh, a genuinely amused laugh. It caused me to chuckle softly.  
“Agreed”, he took his drink and took a swig, making me able to see the slight stubble on his jaw.

When he did finally turn his head to look at me, we both were quite surprised. As soon as my eyes foll on familiar molten chocolate orbs, widened by surprise, I choked on my drink. Mark pat my back, until my coughing subsided.  
“Wouldn’ have thought ta meet ya ‘ere Mark”, I said and noticed a blush forming on his cheeks -or maybe it was the lighting in here, who knows.  
“Me neither”, Mark replied with a chuckle, turning again to his drink, to take a sip. I took one as well then, assessing the situation.  
Mark was here, in this bar, with me, right now. And it was pure coincidence that we met here today. But then I remembered, that Mark was probably still pretty hurt.  
“Hey, you a’right?”, I asked, which probably came out of the blue, judging from Mark’s reaction. Because he turned towards me with a tilted head and brows furrowed, before he seemed to realize what I meant.

He sighed, letting his gaze rest on his drink instead of on me. He was quiet for a few moments, thinking about what to say probably. I gave him the time he needed, not minding at all.  
“I’m fine”, he answered with a heavy sigh. I laid my hand on his arm, which seemed to surprised him, since he looked at me again.  
“I know ya got beat up again. ‘m sorry, i’s my fault”, I told me, my gaze previously on him, before it fell. If I hadn’t beaten up those punks, they would’ve left Mark alone.  
“Hey, it’s no one’s fault. Those guys are dicks”, Mark said and smiled at me, laying his hand on mine. I shook my head, wanting to argue, but Mark stopped me from doing that.  
“Come on, you’re here to have fun, I’m sure. And I don’t wanna think about school and its shit here either”, he said and grinned softly, causing me to chuckle and I nodded. We both shouldn’t think about that shit right now, but instead get drunk and have fun.

Exing the rest of my drink, I grinned widely at Mark. “Let’s dance”, I said and grabbed his hand, tugging at it. He looked surprised for a moment, before laughing. Drinking the rest of his cocktail, he nodded and we got up from our seats, going to the dance floor. Now I could read what was written on his hoodie as well.  
_“Kawaii on the streets, Senpai in the sheets”_. I laughed upon reading that, and when mark looked confused at me, I just pointed at his hoodie. He laughed a little as well, telling me his friend had told him to wear that for coming here.

We had immense fun together. Mark didn’t care about dancing to the beat or even all that well, so there was a lot of laughing from me at him, which just caused him to pull me towards him and dance silly together, which ended in us both laughing. Only when we were out of breath from dancing and laughing so much did we decide to take a break and get more drinks.  
On our way I spotted Felix and saw how he pulled a guy close to him and straight up kissed him. I laughed at how he sputtered after that and ran off, which caused Mark to look at me with a questioning gaze. I just shook my head at him, so he shrugged it off.

At the bar we met Ken. I quickly introduced the two to each other, before telling Ken about what I witnessed. He laughed at that as well, telling me maybe it was a secret crush or something, judging from Felix’s reaction. Mark brought up that he knew a guy who was crushing a little on Felix, one of his friends. He had actually came together with him and a few others here.  
It caused another round of laughter between us, what a big coincidence this all was. We all got some more drinks after that, which Felix joined after a while -no one looked at the time at all, and no one had a sense for time passing here either.

Hours later and we all decided to go back to Felix’s place. Ken was living alone anyways, I had planned to crash at Felix’s anyways, and Mark said that he’d write his friends and his family knew he was out for the night until tomorrow some time. So no one quite cared and we all went out.  
Felix had it the worst of us, though Mark wasn’t that much better. They acted much different from each other though, Felix was loud and obnoxious, stumbling and needing a strong arm of support, while Mark was more quiet and lost in thoughts, but more prone to ramble. I helped him walk as well though, just to make sure. Ken and I were good at handling alcohol, though we both were at least a little drunk as well. Ken was still good enough to drive though, and we made our way to Felix slow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t believe I have any idea about what I’m writing, nor the age the guys are at in high school because fuck if I know  
> Okay I google while writing it so they’re all about 18 I guess but fuck if I’m gonna state this anywhere or if anyone is gonna care  
> For all I care they could be in college tbh, I have no idea how that works either  
> .  
> I wrote that while writing the chapter to not forget, cool amirite?  
> So yeah, i don't think I've updated this story yet, so here ya go.  
> Aren't I productive?  
> On that note, I need to write more for this as well soon, I have one more chapter saved for this before I need moar  
> But yeah, I hope you like this, because I have 1. never been to a club or out drinking in general and 2. I have in general no idea what I'm doing  
> Oh, and, reading a little over it, there are some mistakes. But y'all don't care do ya? xD


	9. Chapter 9

During the time in the club, Ken and Felix got to know Mark more, and I as well. While driving home, we were all definitely friends with everyone in the car, which seemed to make Mark especially happy. He had told us that he didn’t consider many people real friends, besides his best friends Bob and Wade. Sure there were a few girls, like Amy, Molly and Marzia he knew and liked talking to, and there were Arin, Dan and a guy who liked to be called Cry -the one Felix had kissed apparently, and also had a secret crush on Felix, of which Felix didn’t know- but Mark wasn’t sure if he could call any of those real friends either. He liked them all, sure, but outside of school, they barely did anything together. Sometimes they went out, like today, but Mark normally couldn’t because of his family or something, so there wasn’t much that helped strengthen the bond of friendship.  
But the night out today, were he got to talk more with Jack and got to know his friends Ken and Felix, was great. They listened to each other no matter what bullshit they were talking about the more drunk they became and had a lot of fun. And no one cared that Mark came with them, but were actually quite happy to spend some more time together.

Once we arrived at Felix’s place, Ken fished out the keys to the house and opened the door. He’d bring Felix to his room, since he should definitely go to sleep. Mark and me went to the living room and sat down there, before Ken came back with glasses of water for everyone. He and me decided not to stay up much longer as well, while Mark was already half asleep.  
Seeing how Mark was barely awake, we decided that he should get the guest room to sleep in, Ken and me would sleep in the living room -the couch was big enough for two people to lay more or less comfortably on. And if not, then one could sleep on the ground, even if it wasn’t that comfortable.

So we walked together to the guest room, which Ken left again with some blankets and pillows for the living room to sleep with. I sat down Mark and looked him over, made sure he was okay, before telling him to go sleep. Before I could leave though, he grabbed my wrist and stopped me. Looking towards him, he had his head lowered and looked to the ground. It worried me a little, so I went back and sat down next to him.  
“Ya a’right?..”, I asked, voice quiet and soft. He let go of my wrist and lightly shook his head. Now he really got me worried.  
“What’s up?”, I hoped it was only because he was drunk, and not something really serious. How would I help that?  
“’s jus’... ‘m family’s not... great”, he muttered, voice quiet. He leaned against me, which I didn’t really mind. I stayed quiet, waiting for him to continue.  
“My brother’s not... no’ home often... ‘n’ mom died.... dad’s... not so.. great ‘n’ all..”, his voice was barely audible, and he slurred his words a little, but I picked it up thankfully.  
“’m jus’... real’ glad you like me.... an’ that you’re so.. nice ‘n’ all”, he continued, and I blushed a little. “I... I really like you Sean... don’... leave me, mkay?...”, his words trailed off, while he was now finally slowly falling asleep, leaving me a bright red.

“I really like ya too Mark”, I mumbled quietly, before trying to figure out how to get Mark in bed while he was asleep, without waking him up. It seemed like it would be no use though, so I sighed and softly shook his shoulders.  
“Mark, get in bed properly”, I grumbled, glad he woke up a little again. He hummed in response and scooted back in bed, but dragged me along. It surprised me, since I wouldn’t really have thought he’d be that strong. And while I was still amazed at that fact and wondering over the thought why he never defended himself, Mark used the time to lay in bed and just drag me with him, to snuggle me like a giant teddy bear.  
Once I realized that, I just _knew_  my whole face was a bright red. Trying to wriggle out of his grasp or get his hands away resulted in him grumbling in annoyance and/or discomfort, and his grip strengthening. So I gave up and got as comfortable as possible, pulling out my phone, wallet and keys, so that I wouldn’t lay on them. I decided not to care too much about this and just be glad to sleep in a bed and be warm. So I let Mark cuddle me and fell asleep shortly after.

Some time in the early morning -meaning around eight or nine am- I woke up to quiet crying. Rubbing my eyes confused, I remembered I was at Felix’s, after coming home from partying with him, Ken and Mark. Wait, Mark. We fell asleep together! Feeling another blush on my cheeks, I got pulled from my thoughts by a sob, and now I turned around, filled with worry.  
Next to me laid Mark, curled up in on himself, trying to stay as quiet as he could while crying. My brows furrowed and without much thinking -probably because of the rest alcohol and not enough sleep, _and_  just having woken up- I scooted closer to Mark and pulled him into my chest, holding him tightly. He tensed up at the action, but once he noticed against who’s chest he was, he relaxed again and continued crying.  
“Shh... it’s okay...”, I mumbled, rubbing my hands up and down his arms. I let him cry for as long as he needed to, until his quiet sobs subsided and his breathing evened out again and he was sleeping again.  
I was still worried for him, but I was still far too tired to let my mind swirl around Mark’s problems, so I decided that some more sleep would do me some good as well. We could talk about that later this day, if Mark felt up to it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This looks short. Huh. Oh well  
> Eeeyy, we got to know a little 'bout Mark! Yay!  
> And I have no idea what else to say, really xD


	10. Chapter 10

Waking up again, I rubbed my eyes and yawned. I was warm and comfortable, holding onto the blanket and keeping it snuggled close to my chest. Not wanting to get up and face reality again, nor face a hungover Felix, I nuzzled my face into the blanket. I didn’t feel the soft texture of the blanket though, but instead something fuzzy, which tickled my face. It smelled like strawberries...  
Opening my eyes, I was met with pink. A hot, bubblegum pink. And that pink belonged to soft hair, which I _knew_  who it belonged to. My face heated up again, now fully aware that I was holding _Mark_  close to my chest. I felt his hands against my chest, his forehead resting against it as well. He was curled up, but laying close to me, seeking comfort probably, if I remembered the last time I woke up correctly.

I continued to lay there for a while, until my cheeks had cooled down again and I felt ready to leave the warmth of the bed and leave the cute boy in pink alone. I carefully let go of Mark, rolling onto my back and slowly getting up. Looking back, Mark was still asleep, but whined a little at the loss of the warmth I provided for him. I already missed having him that close to me as well, but I shook my head and quietly left the room.  
Going to the kitchen, I could already hear the coffee machine working. Standing next to it was Felix, who just took some pills -probably against the headache he surely had right now.  
“Mornin’ Fel”, I greeted and got myself a mug, for when the coffee would be ready. I was feeling relatively okay, only a light headache pressing against my skull.  
Felix groaned in response, leaning his forehead against a cupboard. I was sure the noise from the coffee machine was too loud for his liking, so it was good that it was done soon. He got himself a cup of coffee, before I got one as well.

We sat quietly together, drinking our coffee, until Ken joined. He also got some coffee, sitting down next to us. We sat in silence for a while longer, before Ken spoke up.  
“Mark still asleep?”, he asked me, and I hummed affirmative as response. Unless he had woken up and just not gotten up yet, he should still be sleeping.  
“How’s yer head, Fel?”, I asked the swede then, who again groaned as response, before nodding.  
“It’s killing me man”, he said, holding his head with one hand, before continuing to drink his coffee. I was glad that he was otherwise okay though, he had been much worse before.

Felix soon got up again to get himself more coffee, and was so nice to get myself another mug of it as well, which left me and Ken alone together.  
“Is it true?”, Ken asked me, and I looked at him questioningly, staying quiet. “Senpai in the sheets”, Ken said, with a smirk and using air quotes.  
My face immediately heated up, I could feel the blush on my cheeks. Ken laughed in response and I hit him against the shoulder with a glare.  
“Shuddup”, I said, right as Felix came in again and gave me my cup of coffee. He looked confusedly at us both, but I waved it off. Ken thought otherwise though.  
“Jackaboy here slept with Mark”, he told Felix, making him sputter, almost spitting out the coffee he was just drinking.  
“What?!”, he exclaimed, looking at me with wide eyes. Just as a wide grin found its way onto his face, I shoved him lightly.  
“I did _not_. We slept in the same bed, that’s _it”_ , I glared at them both, while they just laughed.

We sat together for a good while, starting to make some breakfast for us all then. It was already noon, but no one really cared. Mark came slowly into the kitchen than as well, holding his head and clearly having a massive headache.  
“I feel you bro”, Felix said and gave Mark a cup of coffee and some painkillers as well. He accepted them both with a muttered thanks, sitting down and taking the pills, before just silently drinking his coffee. He seemed bothered by something, but I didn’t really want to bring up last night in front of the others.  
Soon we were all eating and chatting, keeping our voices still rather quiet for our headaches. But we had fun, laughing softly while talking about last night in the club. I brought up how Felix had kissed some guy, which brought a bright blush to his face. Ken brought up how he had seen me and Mark dance stupidly, which made us all laugh.  
This was nice. Sitting with my best friends, with Mark included now as well. I couldn’t believe I was here with my crush, and knew he liked me. In what way I didn’t know, but at least knowing we were friends was great.

After breakfast, we all cleaned up together, when Mark mentioned that he should go home. It was already noon after all, and he didn’t want his dad to worry about him. I frowned upon hearing that, thinking that there was probably another reason why he wanted to go home, but I couldn’t help him.  
Ken offered to drive him home, which he gratefully accepted. Ken said he’d come again, so Felix and me would wait here and finish cleaning up. They said their goodbyes, and then they were gone. Me and Felix continued cleaning up then, when the blonde nudged me.  
“You alright man?”, he asked, seeing my furrowed brows. He could probably guess that was something eating away at me.  
“’m good. Jus’ thinkin’ ‘bout Mark”, I told him, knowing trying not to tell him would be of no use. He’d just pry until he knew.  
“What about him? Confessed his love for you?”, Felix asked with a grin and I groaned, shoving him again.  
“No. He jus’ told me his fam’ isn’ tha best”, I answered and shrugged lightly, trying to let my worry leave me. There surely wasn’t anything to worry about him, right?

Felix and I were sitting in the living room, playing video games when Ken came back. Felix let him in, and soon we were all sitting together in the living room.  
“Dudes, I don’t think Mark’s dad was too happy about his night out”, Ken told us, and I looked at him, worrying for my crush already.  
“Why?”, Felix was the one to ask, and Ken shrugged lightly in response.  
“I heard yellin’ while driving away”, he answered. If there was only yelling, there was probably nothing worse, right?  
“He probably didn’t like how late Mark came home”, Felix said, trying to ease my worries obviously. We decided to agree on that, and I decided to text Mark later to ask if everything was alright.

We spent some hours gaming together, before deciding to go out to eat. Ken would drive Felix and me home again, before going home himself. I was trying not to think about Mark and worry about him, which mostly was possible thanks to being distracted by my friends. When Ken was driving me home though, I finally got out my phone and texted Mark.

**[Jack]: Hey Mark, everything alright with you?**

It took a few minutes until Mark replied, but I couldn’t look at it right away, since we had arrived at my home. I thanked Ken and left the car, pulling out my phone while walking to the door.

**[Mark]: Everything’s fine**

Was his short answer, which made my brows furrow. Entering my home, I called out that I was home again, because I never know if someone is home or not. I got a response from my mom and surprisingly from one of my older brothers. Shrugging, I made my way to my room.

**[Jack]: Sure? Ken heard yelling when driving away...**

I didn’t really want to mention it, but I was worried about Mark and his situation at home. So I had no other choice than mention it. It resulted in a few minutes of silence from Mark’s end, which I used to gather fresh clothes and go to the bathroom. I needed a shower after last night.

**[Mark]: Dad wasn’t happy that I was home so late and had gotten drunk. It’s fine though, just not allowed to go out for a while**

I frowned at that, but sighed in the end. I would see him again monday after all, then I would see if he was really fine. I also hoped that the bruises he surely still had from getting beaten up were healing, and that he took care of them.

**[Jack]: Glad to hear you’re okay. See you monday?**

Sending the message, I finally was able to get in the shower, getting away the smell of the club last night, away with the alcohol, and away with the sweat and disgusting feeling of having slept in my clothes. Once I was done, I dressed in some comfy clothes, not bothering to get anything appropriate for going out, since I planned to stay inside the rest of the day.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing interesting happened, did it  
> I mean, maybe besides the general knowledge now of "Mark's dad maybe isn't great" but eh  
> So yeah! I'll try and make the next chapter more interesting though  
> Maybe a date, eh? Eh? How about it?


	11. Chapter 11

Monday came and went. Mark wasn’t in school, which had concerned Jack, but he had decided that he shouldn’t text Mark immediately. He didn’t want to seem like he worried over every little thing, and maybe Mark was just unwell for real this time. But when Mark wasn’t in school on tuesday either, Jack decided that he was right to worry, so after school he texted Mark on his way home.

**[Jack]: Hey Mark. Everything alright?**

He held his phone in his hand while waiting for a reply, hoping to notice the vibration when Mark replied. But even when he had gotten home, there was no answer. Furrowing his brows, Jack send another message.

**[Jack]: I’m worried. Are you sick?**

To pass some time, Jack sat down in his room at his desk, and began to do homework. Even if he didn’t much care to do it, it was practice, and he did care about his grades somewhat. He was in the middle of doing them when his phone next to him vibrated. He immediately put the pen down and took his phone, hoping it was Mark who had answered.

**[Mark]: I’ll be in school tomorrow**

Jack looked at the message and waited a few minutes if there would be more, but that was all Mark send. Deciding not to bother Mark -maybe he really was sick and just didn’t feel like texting- he laid his phone down again and went back to work.  
He couldn’t help himself though, and his thoughts always wandered back to Mark. He was worried for his friend and crush, and he really didn’t want the other to be in trouble. It made him feel a little bad for the weekend, though it was no one’s fault they had gotten drunk and Mark had gotten home late.

Wednesday couldn’t come soon enough. Jack waited in front of the school, instead of going to the back to smoke. Yes he was very anxious and would really need a cig right now, but he could live without one. He wasn’t that big of a smoker anyways, which he was secretly proud of.  
When he spotted the pastel coloured boy, Jack felt relieved instantly. Mark was looking at the ground while walking, and even from a distance Jack could tell he looked a little sick. So he approached Mark, seeing as they would need to wait outside anyways.

“Mornin’ Mark”, Jack greeted, which startled Mark. He looked up to Jack, surprised, but calmed down as soon as he saw it was Jack who had talked to him.  
“Morning”, he replied with a small smile, and the two of them went to sit somewhere to the side together. Jack eyed Mark while walking, of course Mark was wearing some pastel outfit, but he also wore a scarf. It looked soft and warm, with many soft colours.  
“So, yer sick?”, Jack asked, once they sat down. It looked like Mark was, so he hoped Mark had been missing because of that.  
“Yeah, a little. Throat hurts mostly”, Mark answered, which explained how his voice sounded a little hoarse. It relieved Jack though, he was glad to hear Mark was just sick and not anything else.

The two of them spend the rest of the time talking, until school started. They parted ways then, each going to their own classes. They would meet each other again in art anyways, and they could talk after school as well. Especially since nothing interesting happened during the classes. Felix and Ken asked about Mark, and Jack told them he had been sick and still wasn’t one hundred percent, but seemed okay.  
In art, Jack finished his collage and watched Felix then, talking with his best friend while he struggled to make a good collage. If he’d just slap things on, then he’d get a bad grade and he really didn’t need that. Mark seemed happier in art as well, happily working on his own collage. He got finished only minutes before the class ended, unlike Felix, who still wasn’t finished.

After school, Mark approached Jack, not minding that Ken was there as well. Felix was with his other friend, Cry was it? Anyways, the three of them left school together, Ken leaving the two, since he’d drive home.  
“Hey Jack?..”, Mark spoke up, once Ken left. Jack looked over to Mark, who was fidgeting with the end of his sleeve.  
“What’s up?”, Jack replied, wondering what Mark could possibly want. He seemed nervous about it at least.  
“Would you... well.. my dad’s not home. So would you like to, maybe, hang out?”, Mark asked, sounding rather unsure. Hearing the question, Jack grinned happily and nodded.  
“Sure!”, he agreed, and Mark looked up at Jack, almost shocked, but smiled happily. Together, they started on their way to Mark’s home then, talking about their day in school on the way.

Mark lived in a nice little house, fit for him, his father and his brother -who apparently rarely was home though. It was rather neat and tidy in the house, which didn’t surprise Jack that much. Mark seemed like someone who liked to be tidy, and living with only two people here must make it easy.  
Going to Mark’s room, the boy hesitated a little. He knew Jack didn’t mind his clothing style, but he was still a little nervous. Jack waited patiently, with a soft smile, for Mark to gather his courage and open his room’s door.  
Mark’s room wasn’t that big, nor really small. The walls were a soft pink and the furniture was white. On the wall next to his bed were many photos on the wall, showing himself, his family and friends. On his bed were a few plush toys. He had a shelf were he had most of his flowercrowns and things to make them, like fake flowers and ribbons. His desk had a PC and had a small vase with flowers inside.  
The room fit Mark, it was bright and soft, with enough personal touches to show it was really Mark’s, and not just a room that could just as well belong to a little girl.

After Jack looked around the room, he was intrigued by the pictures, so the both of them went over to the bed and looked at them. Mark showed Jack pictures of his brother and his mother, happy family pictures. He had pictures with his kind of friends, Amy, Molly, Marzia and Cry -the latter though usually obscured or out of focus. He had some pictures with Bob and Wade, his best friends, as well.  
When Mark commented that he definitely needed pictures of him and Jack to put up on the wall, it caused the green-head to blush, which made Mark giggle. He had picked up on Jack’s reactions, and he assumed that he might have a crush on him. That would be a dream come true for Mark, who had developed a crush on the other as well.

They sat together on Mark’s bed, Mark leaning against Jack’s side, and they just talked. Mark told Jack about his brother and mother, barely mentioning his father, and Jack told Mark about his own family, his many siblings. Some time they changed their positions to face each other, and Jack told funny stories about shit Felix had done. He loved seeing Mark laugh, it was always really adorable.  
“Could you close your eyes for a moment?”, Mark asked Jack when there was a short silence between them. Jack, trusting Mark, shrugged lightly and closed his eyes. He wondered what Mark was planning to do.  
He felt something atop of his head, and was about to open his eyes, when Mark told him to keep them closed. So he did and waited. He felt the mattress shift when Mark shifted his position, making Jack even more curious. He could hear Mark take a deep breath, and then he felt a soft touch. A hand on his cheek. He blushed, hoping that what he was thinking was true. That Mark was going to kiss him.  
Jack could feel Mark’s breath softly when he leaned in closer, but right before their lips connected there was the slam of a door downstairs, which caused them both to flinch -Mark leaning back to his original sitting position. Looking at him, Jack found Mark staring at his door.

“I- I gotta check if that’s dad”, he said and got off the bed. Jack noticed that Mark looked a little frantic, and didn’t have his flowercrown on his head anymore. That was probably the weight on his head.  
“Just- just stay here. I’ll be right back”, Mark smiled at Jack from the door, who looked a little skeptic, but he nodded. Mark disappeared out the door then, not closing it fully.  
It didn’t take long and Jack could hear shouting from an older man. Probably Mark’s father. It made him worry, why was he shouting at Mark? But he couldn’t just go downstairs or go listen in on what they were saying, that wasn’t his place. He was glad he couldn’t hear Mark shouting back at the man though, but keep his cool.  
Only when Jack heard something crash, like a glass falling to the ground and breaking, did he stand up. Whatever was happening down there, it wasn’t good, and he would stop it. He tried his best to stay quiet while walking down the stairs, finding his way to the kitchen.

Peeking inside, he saw a man taller than him and Mark, and much bulkier. His back was to the door and he faced the wall. There was a broken glass and a puddle of water on the ground, and Jack could faintly smell alcohol. Was the man drunk? What concerned him was, that he couldn’t see Mark. He probably was obscured of Jack’s sight by his father.  
“You little piece of shit”, the man grumbled, shoving the raised arm he had forward. Had he Mark pinned against the wall? Jack didn’t need to wonder too long, when the guy raised his other arm to use as well, shifting his other arm as well. And Jack could hear a quiet, breathless “Stop..”.  
His eyes widening in realization, his expression quickly shifted into anger and he rushed forward, kicking the man in the back of his knees. Mark’s father yelped from the unexpected action and let go of Mark, who loudly gasped for breath, holding his hands to his neck.

Jack knew he would have no chance against the man, so he quickly grabbed Mark by the arm and pulled him with him, rushing out of the kitchen. Mark’s father shouted at them both, scrambling to follow them outside. Jack didn’t care about anything right now, and just pulled Mark along, going as quickly as he could to the next neighbor, ringing the doorbell.  
Mark stayed quiet, only taking in deep breaths of air and holding one hand still against his neck, where a bruise was already showing. The scarf he had been wearing was hanging loosely on his shoulders, probably having been pulled down.  
They could hear Mark’s father shouting at them, when the door finally opened.  
“We need help”, Jack said to the woman who had opened the door. Seeing Mark, she ushered the two of them inside, glancing over to the shouting man, before quickly closing the door.

“Come here, sit down”, the lady said, leading the boys to her living room. She sat the boys down and told them to wait here, while she got some ice for Mark-to stop the bruise from getting worse.  
“How are you?”, Jack asked Mark, keeping his voice soft. He didn’t try to hide his concern for the other, but pushed down the anger towards Mark’s father.  
“I’m fine”, Mark answered, voice quiet and hoarse. He didn’t look at Jack, instead keeping his gaze cast downwards. Jack hugged him softly, which startled Mark a little, before leaning against Jack.  
The lady came back and gave an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel to Mark, who held it against his throat. She introduced herself as Suzy, and after a sudden muffled shout from another room startled the boys, told her that that was his husband Arin.  
She asked them both what had happened, so Jack told her what he knew. Mark just stayed silent, uncomfortable about it all. When Suzy asked him why his father had done that, he stayed quiet. Jack rubbed soothing circles on his back, not pushing Mark to answer, just giving him comfort.  
“He always... does that. When he’s drunk...”, Mark answered after a few minutes quietly. He was tearing up, thinking about the abuse he was going through almost daily, and buried his face in Jack’s chest. The boy just held him close, rubbing his back and muttering quiet soothing words to Mark.

Suzy looked a little shocked, hearing that Mark’s father had done that. Assuming that the man was probably often drunk, judging from Mark’s reaction, she excused herself from the room. Jack didn’t care about it though, he only cared about Mark.  
Not only was he bullied at school, beaten there, but also his own father beat him and even _chocked_  him. Jack was glad that he had gone downstairs when he had heard the glass break and stopped the man from chocking Mark even further.  
Jack could hear that Suzy made a phone call after a while, but he still didn’t care. He cared about Mark, who was slowly calming down again. He clung to Jack, leaning his head against his chest. He wasn’t sobbing anymore and was mostly sniffing now.  
“Do you want a tissue?”, Jack asked softly, and Mark nodded. So he pulled out a tissue from his pockets he thankfully had there, and gave it to Mark, who sat up straight again and let go of Jack. His eyes were red and puffy, and tears stained his cheeks.

“It’s okay now. I’m here with you”, Jack pulled Mark back into a hug, mumbling softly to him. Mark nodded in response, holding with one hand onto Jack, the other holding the ice pack to his throat.  
Jack was worried for Mark. How long had this been going on? He wondered if Mark’s brother knew, if _anyone_  knew. Why hadn’t Mark told anyone? Jack had no idea, but he never had been in such a situation, so he didn’t know why Mark wouldn’t say anything.  
He was glad he had dragged Mark to his neighbor though, to Suzy and Arin. She seemed like a nice person, so surely her husband would be as well. And they were helping. Jack appreciated that very much.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANGST HAHAHA  
> And we know what shit is happening with Mark at his home with his dad  
> And eeyyy, somehow Suzy and Arin got here as well. Somehow they get into all the fics, though I barely watched GameGrumps xD  
> Btw, I have no idea what I'm doing, just saying. So be prepared for shit I will have to research xD  
> Sorry for the late update btw, I was playing Sims (which crashes all the time orz) and had nothing written in advance for this  
> So yeah, I won't promise that the next update will be on time either, but oh well xD  
> At least you get updates relatively quick? <3


	12. Chapter 12

It was a few hours after the incident, and now Jack and Mark were in Jack's room. Mark was curled up on Jack's bed, resting, while the other was sitting at his desk and on his computer. He looked up what happened with child abuse and what the consequences would be. He was worried for Mark -which was the reason he was here with him now- and he didn't want Mark to go back home.  
Jack didn't find out much though. Apparently the Child Protective Services would try and help the parent to become better, to not break up a family. Jack hoped that if Mark's father's alcoholism was treated, that the man would be better if sober. At least Mark had a save haven here with him, and he was also allowed to go to Suzy and Arin if there was an emergency.

Turning from his screen to look at Mark, Jack frowned a little. Even with Mark curled up like he currently was, he could see the bruise on his throat. It worried Jack a lot, and he wanted to know more about Mark's life, how often this happened. But he didn't want to make Mark uncomfortable and pry too much. But maybe he could ask, when Mark was better. He'd decide some other time, for now he wouldn't ask.  
Sighing, Jack took in Mark's form. Curled up tightly on the bed, face mostly hidden behind his arms. He looked so vulnerable, fragile. Jack's want to protect him grew stronger, and he was determined to help Mark in any way he could. He'd be there for him, and always let him come here if he wanted to.

When Mark woke up again, he was alone in the room. Jack had left some time ago and was now in the kitchen, helping his mom making dinner. Not only was she home, but also one of his brothers and one sister. The next two youngest in the line, actually. Jack had already told his mom about Mark and that he insisted on having him stay the night. He had more or less explained the situation to her, and she agreed that he should stay here for tonight.  
Once dinner was ready, Jack went up the stairs to get everyone. Yelling to his siblings to get down for dinner, he opened his own bedroom door and found Mark sitting on the bed, back leaning against the wall, starring off into nothingness. Once the door opened though, he was pulled from his thoughts and looked towards his friend.

"Dinner's ready", Jack informed him and smiled at Mark. He nodded and grabbed his scarf, wrapping it softly around his neck to hide his bruise, before getting up.  
"Two of me sibs are home, but they're nice. So don' worry", Jack told Mark, letting him leave the room before closing the door. He hoped the two wouldn't be too annoying and let Mark have his peace.  
"It's okay", Mark said, smiling a little. Jack could tell, though, that he was nervous. He laid a hand on Mark's shoulder, giving him an encouraging smile, before going down the stairs, Mark following close behind.

Everyone got seated, after Mark got introduced to Jack's siblings, and dinner began. A conversation between basically everyone was held, though Mark stayed mostly silent. He did smile and answer questions, but otherwise didn't contribute to the topics that were talked about. Jack couldn't blame him, sitting and eating dinner with unfamiliar people surely was strange for him, especially since he wasn't the most social butterfly there is.  
Jack could tell Mark was relieved when they were done, helping clear the table with everyone else. He waited for Jack, before the two of them went back upstairs and into Jack's room. They sat down on the bed together, enjoying the silence after the loud dinner.

"Mark, yer stayin' here tonight", Jack announced then, startling the other male. Mark looked at Jack, surprised, a little shocked, but soon tilted his head slightly in confusion.  
"'m not letting ya stay with yer dad tonight", Jack answered Mark's silent question. Mark frowned at Jack slightly then, crossing his arms.  
"I can go home, it's fine", he said, voice strong. Jack couldn't tell Mark's emotions, what he was thinking, but he didn't want Mark to leave today.  
"C'mon, i's just tonight. Ya can go home tomorrow", Jack replied, a determined look in his eyes. They stared at each other for a few minutes, until Mark sighed and gave up. Arguing with Jack seemed useless.  
"Ya can get clothes from my bro again, an' can sleep in my bed", Jack said, smiling softly at Mark then, glad that he'd stay and didn't argue. He honestly didn't want to argue with Mark.  
"Thanks.. But I'll take the floor. It's your bed, Jack", Mark looked at Jack that told the other to not argue with him over that, and even though Jack wanted to argue over it, he didn't. Maybe he would manage to have Mark fall asleep in his bed before he noticed.  
"A'right, a'right. Wanna play some games?", Jack grinned at Mark, and he smiled back, nodding. They got up and went to Jack's desk, luckily he had another rather comfortable stool there for Mark to sit on.

They played for hours, until Jack noticed that Mark got tired. He wasn't as focused on the game anymore, his eyes drooping. He was barely sitting upright anymore either. Jack felt tired as well though, even if he wasn't as affected by it like Mark was. He rubbed his eyes and decided to end the game, which didn't surprise Mark all that much.  
"I'll get ya some clothes. Ya can brush yer teeth or somethin' meanwhile?", Jack suggested, looking at Mark. He nodded, and both got up, Jack turning off his PC before. He gave Mark a toothbrush, before he went and got some clothes for Mark to sleep in. Also the pillows and blankets from his brother's room, since one would definitely sleep on the floor.  
He dropped off the clothes for Mark in the bathroom, before going to his room to change himself. Some shirt and Pj-pants. Putting the pillows and blankets on the ground then, he made a makeshift bed on the ground, next to his bed.

Mark came back into the room, changed into the shirt and sweatpants Jack had given him, looking dead-tired. Jack smiled at him and motioned to the beds, before leaving the room to go to the bathroom as well. He brushed his teeth quickly, before going back to his room, where he found Mark curled up on the makeshift bed on the ground, already asleep by the looks of it.  
Jack sighed, he really would've preferred if Mark slept in the bed, but he wouldn't wake Mark up to get him to. So he carefully stepped over Mark and crawled into his bed, snuggling into his bed. He needed some time, before falling asleep.

Jack was startled awake in the middle of the night. Still half asleep, his ears picked up rapid breathing and shaky sobs. Once his brain actually registered the sounds, Jack's brows furrowed and he rubbed his eyes. Pushing himself up onto his elbows, Jack looked towards the ground. In the darkness, he could barely make out the shaking form on the ground.  
"Mark?...", Jack muttered, resulting in a sharp intake of breath from said person. Mark tried his hardest to keep quiet it appeared, though his shaking was still clearly visible to Jack.  
"S-sorry I woke you up", Mark said quietly, his voice shaking. He sniffed, rubbing at his eyes. Jack worried instantly, pushing himself up into a sitting position.  
"Are ye a'right?..", Jack asked quietly, worry lacing his voice. His eyes now better adjusted to the dark, could see Mark curled up in on himself, hidden partially under the blanket, still shaking. He could hear his uneven breaths as well.  
"I-I'm fine", Mark replied, but Jack could tell he clearly wasn't. He sighed, scooting backwards in his bed.  
"C'mon up 'ere", Jack said, patting his bed. It wasn't big enough for them to comfortably lay next to each other, but rather close to each other, but he wouldn't mind. When Mark didn't move from his position on the ground, Jack groaned.  
"C'mon, _please_ get up 'ere", Jack said, again. And after a few moments, Mark finally did get up from the ground and into Jack's bed. They were flush next to each other, which caused Jack to clearly feel Mark's shaking. Now he could better hear him as well, quiet sobs, the cause of Mark's shaking.

Jack pulled Mark towards him and held him in a hug close to his chest, letting Mark's head rest on one arm, while the other laid around him, rubbing small circles onto his back. At first, Mark had tensed up, but soon he snuggled close to Jack and cried openly into his chest. Jack let him, muttering quiet words to Mark to try and help him calm down. He could imagine that Mark had had a nightmare.  
When Mark quieted down again, now only sniffing and trembling, Jack decided that he could talk to him now. He'd understand if Mark didn't feel like it, but at least he wanted to make sure that Mark was alright.  
"Mark?..", Jack said quietly. Mark hummed quietly in response, showing he paid attention. "Did ya have a nightmare?..", Jack asked quietly, still rubbing Mark's back gently.  
"Mhhm", Mark hummed quietly, nodding against Jack's chest. It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it, so Jack didn't question any further. Instead, he continued to hold Mark, until he fell asleep again. Jack looked at Mark, seeing him almost curled up against Jack, his blanket barely hanging onto him. He couldn't really pull it over him sadly, leaving him sighing. Leaning his head onto Mark's, which was tugged under his jaw basically, he closed his eyes again, soon falling asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been two weeks...  
> Yeah, I'm writing too much again and have too many ideas for more new stories  
> And this here suffered a little under it, also low motivation for this and ideas..  
> Yeah....  
> I looked up CPS and shit, what happens and such, so. Yeah.  
> Also sorry if they behave differently now, I haven't written this so long after all. So yeah  
> Next update is written in the stars when it comes, I have no clue


End file.
